Public Image Ltd - Kelvingrove Bandstand 29th July 2025

A Night of Punk, Provocation, and Pure Energy

Happy New Year? It might be July, but stepping back into Kelvingrove Bandstand for another edition of Summer Sessions, it certainly feels like a new beginning. This open-air venue-tucked into the lush heart of Kelvingrove Park-has become a spiritual home for live music in Glasgow. It's hard to believe it took years of campaigning to reopen this gem. Criminal, really.



Tonight, the bandstand welcomes one of the most infamous figures in UK music history: John Lydon and his ever-evolving project, Public Image Ltd (PiL). With no idea what to expect, but a bubbling excitement in the air, the stage was set for something unpredictable.

And Lydon didn't disappoint. In typical punk fashion, he greeted the crowd with a cheeky: "Hello Edinburgh..."-earning a chorus of Glaswegian boos and laughter. The mood was instantly set.



From the get-go, the band launched into a tightly wound, fast-paced set-full of movement, energy, and swagger. Lyrically, Lydon touched on themes of decay and inequality:

"The poor get poorer..."
"Speak of our destruction..."

The grooves were tight, the beat pulsing-often dipping into reggae-like basslines and deep 4/4 drum kicks. Despite the punk credentials, this was dance music at its core. Then came an unexpected twist: a track laced with Indian/Moroccan rhythms, complete with traditional instrumentation and beats that got the crowd swaying.



Between songs, the banter flowed.

"Thanks for all the whisky you supplied last night..."
"No wonder you don't wear sporrans-it keeps bouncing off my testicles!"

Lydon's get-up was striking: a tartan waistcoat, Persian-style trousers, a sporran, and the trademark mohawk. As he dedicated Public Image to Glasgow and dove into a monologue about fashion, it all somehow felt... poetic.

One of the most surreal and perfectly Lydon moments? Mid-show, he walked offstage to grab a cigarette and took his lyrics book with him, casually announcing an encore in the most un-punk but entirely punk way possible.



Then came the moment:

Years ago, in a Glasgow bar, a friend and I were chatting, and I was DJIng, I put on a song that was long froma CD, I had never heard. The bass drum kicked in and Niall and I looked at each other wondering "What is this!?" We had discovered Leftfield's Open Up-Lydon's vocals over one of the greatest tracks in electronic music. It was fitting to see Niall and his dad in the crowd!

Tonight, as the encore began with that unmistakable long intro, I knew: it was happening.

The crowd went wild. Arms aloft, dancing, yelling. Kelvingrove Bandstand became a rave. Was this a punk gig? A new wave reunion? An electronic festival? Who knows anymore. Glasgow was alive.



They closed with Rise - a perfect crescendo, the entire crowd screaming:

"Anger is an energy!"

Public Image Ltd didn't come to mess around. No frills, no filler-just attitude, art, and a reminder of what punk really means. It was raw. It was joyful. It was beautiful.

Review by Craig McGee, photography by Stewart Fullerton.

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